Steering apparatus for automobiles and the like.



w. H. EXLEY & w. T. FIELD. STEERING APPARATUS FOR AUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1915.

f H I4 4 T J i 4 7;" 3 7 v E 7 I anue/wllow I Wit/neon W UNETE stars PATENT "WILLIAM H. EXLEY AND WILLIAM 'll. FIELD, OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

STEERING APPARATUS FOR AUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. a. this.

Application filed May 15, 1915. Serial No. 28,2?5.

10 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. EXLEY and WIL IAM T. FIELD," citizens of the scribed the same in the following specificain the usual manner.

'vention, Figure 1 tion, illustrated by the accompanying drawings. is

The invention relates to that class of steering apparatus for automobiles and similar vehicles, which comprises steering knuckles carried by an axle and adapted to direct the wheels of that axle, and a drag link connecting the knuckles.

lit is the main object of the invention to prevent these wheels from being steered sidewise by accident, as when one of them strikes an obstacle in the road; to return the wheels automatically to a normal straight course, when they are unintentionally defiected therefrom; to render the steering easy for the driver, especially when the vehicle is running in a straight course; to impart to the apparatus a continual propensity to steer the vehicle straight; and in general to stabilize the action of steering apparatus of the specified class.

To accomplish this result, we incorporate in our improved steering apparatus, as partsv thereof, a yielding connection between the front axle of the vehicle and the steering knuckles respectively.

lin the accompanying drawings, illustrating the best manner in which. we have con templated applying the principles of the inis a plan of the front wheels and axle of an automobile which is provided with steering apparatus construct ed in accordance with these principles and positioned for steering straight ahead. Fig. 2'is a plan of the same, showing the apparatus as positioned when the wheels are diverted from a straight course. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line- 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a vertical section on the sectionline H of Fig. 2.

lhu the illustrated construction, the wheels i are hinged to the opposite ends of the axle 2 by the steering knuckles 3, having the fingers, or short steering arms, 4, which are mutually connected by the drag link 5, all

On each of these fingets, near its outer end, is clamped the bracket 6, whose separated cheeks are interconnected by the clamping hinge bolt 7; while on the axle 2, at equal distances from its opposite ends, are set the spaced brackets 8, which are clamped to the axle by the screw clips 9. Between each bracket 8 and the near bracket 6 is inserted the open cylindrical spring 1 0, which contains a por-' tion of the directing rod 11, and bends conformably thereto. @ne end of this rod has an eye 12 for the accommodation of the bolt 7, and is hinged thereby to the bracket 6;.

the other end of the same is provided with a stop nut while a straight portion of the same, together with the loose and slidable sleeve 1e thereon, extends loosely through the slot 15 in the bracket 8. The spring on this rod, is in each instance confined under Variable compression, between the shoulder 16 and the shoulder 17 forming the continguous end of the stop sleeve 14. While the wheels run straight, as in Fig. 1, that compression is equal in both springs, and the resulting pressure against the shoulders 17 pushes the sleeves 14 endwise on the rods 11 against the stop nuts 13, and produces no steering efiect. But whenever the wheels are turned aside, as in Fig. 2, one of the rods 11 is pushed slidingly endwise in its sleeve 14, the latter being stopped by lthe contact of the shoulder 17 with the bracket 8, with the result that the encirapart the bracketsadjacent to these shoul- I ders, and thereby to return thewheels to the straight-running position by means. of the linked steering knuckles; while the other I rod 11, with its sleeve 14 is pulled longitudinally in the opposite direction, in the slotted bracket 8, without afl'ectingeither thecompression of its encircling spring or the steering of the vehicle. Accordingly the directing energy exerted by the acting spring when the wheels are deflected from a straight course, is 'appronimatelvpropop. tioned to theextent oftheir' defiection, and

operatively varies therewithfae the deflection changes. v

We claim as our invention? I 1-. In a vehicle having an axle and steer ing knuckles carried thereby, a steering apparatus comprising a pair of pushrods flexirot loly joined to the steering knuckles respectively, a pair of slotted brackets secured to the axle, a pair of sleeves slidable on the pushrods in the brackets, and yielding connections between the knuckles and the sleeves.

' 2. Steering apparatus of the specified class, comprising an axle, steering knuckles hinged to the axle and linked together, a pair of brackets carried by the knuckles respectively, a pair of spaced brackets carried by the axle, and a yielding connection between each axle bracket and one of the knuckle brackets; said connection comprising a rod terminally hinged to one of the connected brackets and reciprocable in a slot through the other of said brackets, a

spring encircling the rod, and a sleeve slidable on the rod through the slot.

3. Steering apparatus of the specified class, comprising an axle, steering knuckles hinged to the axle and having fingers linked together, a pair ofrbrackets carried by the knuckle fingers respectively, a pair of slotted brackets carried by the axle, and a yielding connection between each knuckle bracket and one of the slotted brackets; said connection comprising a rod flexibly joined to a rod hinged to each of thesteering knuckles,

a slidable sleeve on the rod, a helical spring encircling the rod and confined between the hinge and the sleeve, and a bracket fastened on the axle and loosely encircling the sleeve.

itness our signatures at Lincoln, Ne-

braska, May 10, 1915.

WILLIAM H. EXLEY. WILLIAM T. FIELD. 

